Asphalt-surfaced roadways are built to facilitate vehicular travel. Depending upon usage density, base conditions, temperature variation, moisture levels, and/or physical age, the surfaces of the roadways eventually become misshapen and unable to support wheel loads. In order to rehabilitate the roadways for continued vehicular use, spent asphalt is removed in preparation for resurfacing.
Cold planers, sometimes also called road mills or scarifiers, are used to break up and remove layers of an asphalt roadway. A cold planer typically includes a frame propelled by tracked or wheeled drive units. The frame supports an engine, an operator's station, a milling drum, and conveyors. The milling drum, fitted with cutting tools, is rotated through a suitable interface with the engine to break up the surface of the roadway. The broken up roadway material is deposited by the milling drum onto the conveyors, which transfer the broken up material into haul trucks for removal from the worksite.
The cutting tools are attached to the milling drum by way of tool and/or base blocks. All of these components can wear out over time and/or break during milling operations, necessitating their periodic replacement. Operators typically monitor the wearing and breakage of these components by visually inspecting each component on the milling drum at the beginning and end of each operation and/or during downtime. Depending on the type of material being milled, the cutting depth, and other factors, the cutting tools, tool holders, and/or base blocks may be inspected and replaced every hour, every few hours, every shift, daily, etc. Since a typical milling drum has multiple cutting tools and multiple tool holders and base blocks, the inspection can be labor intensive and time consuming. In addition, the inspection process requires the milling operation to be interrupted. For these reasons, some cutting tools may be replaced prematurely (e.g., out of caution and avoid milling interruption). For the same reasons, the inspection and/or replacement may be avoided or delayed, resulting in collateral component damage. Both situations increase an operating cost of the cold planer.
One attempt to monitor the wearing of a cutting tool is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0256032 A1 of Palmer that published on Oct. 3, 2013 (“the '032 publication”). In particular, the '032 publication discloses a wear indication system for an abrading tool. The wear indication system includes a sensor, which detects signals emitted by a number of different tags disposed at various locations within a cutting end of the abrading tool. Specifically, the sensor detects changes in signals emitted by the tags, as the tags become dislodged or destroyed during the drilling process. An indication of a wear level of the abrading tool is then determined based on the change in signals, and electronically communicated to an operator of the abrading tool.
While the system of the '032 publication may allow for a wear level of an abrading tool to be monitored, it may be less than optimal. In particular, the system of the '032 publication may cause the abrading tool to wear out more quickly, since each tag occupies space within the tool. That is, voids may be created within the tool in order accommodate the tags, and the voids may reduce a strength of the tool. Additionally, the use of multiple types of tags may increase a complexity and/or cost of the system, making the use of the system prohibitive with machines having a high number of tools.
The wear monitoring system of the present disclosure solves one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems in the art.